Girls' Bowling Finish 2nd at Regionals; Qualify for Team States

Feb 26, 2018

Oxford Varsity Bowling traveled to Grand Blanc Lanes on Friday and Saturday to take the first step to the State Finals, Regionals. There would be 15 other teams from as far away as Traverse City and Midland vying for just 3 spots at the State Finals. Each team would bowl 6 baker games and 3 regular team games and the top 3 would advance. In the field were power teams like Davison, Clarkston, Bay City Western and Carmen Ainsworh. In all 6 of the teams at this regional bowled in the Finals last year.

The Oxford Boys have made it the past 4 years and the Girls the past 2.

The Boys never really got rolling but were in the hunt through the baker games. They still found themselves just 56 pins out of the cut and in sixth place after the 6 baker games. The Cats moved into 5th place after game one but that was as close as they came. A poor game 2 ended the streak of 4 years making it to the finals. Davison, Carman-Ainsworth and Flushing advanced to the team finals.

"This is a team that I feel strongly about. I knew the field was tough but I expected a better result today," said Head Coach, Junior Lafnear. "The team just never caught a break all day and it showed. It wore us down and finally in the 2nd game it was over. We had a great season and these boys had great careers as a team. I will miss these 5 seniors and what they have done for our program."

The Girls on the other hand bowled very well. After the 6 Baker games the girls were in second place behind Flushing by only 19 pins. Game 1 the Wildcats rolled a solid 856 but the tough field picked up the pace. The Girls fell to 5th place 52 pins out of the 3rd position. Game number 2 the girls picked up the pace shooting 887 and remained in the 5th spot. They did however get to a mere 27 pins out of the 3rd and final qualifying spot. Oxford had Lake Orion by 22 pins, Bay City Western by 27 pins, Flushing by 49 pins, and Saginaw Heritage by 98 pins in front of them. They would need to jump 2 of them to get that 3rd position. Oxford posted the best score of the third round with a 903 score. The Lake Orion team 800, Flushing team 810 and Saginaw Heritage squad 780 all posted their lowest scores of the day. The Girls moved into second spot and on to the State Finals for the third year in a row. The Wildcats only missed the Regional title by 12 pins behind Bay City Western.

"I'm so glad for these girls. They really gave a strong effort out there today and they deserve to be going to the Finals," said Lafnear. "They have the talent and the drive to do well at Sterling Lanes and I expect them too. This is a great way to finish a solid season."